1. Field of the Invention
Some embodiments of the present invention relate to methods of treating animal waste, green waste, paper/cardboard waste and other organic waste.
2. Description of the Related Art
Millions of tons of cow, chicken, pig and horse manure are produced every day in the United States. Millions of tons of other organic waste are also produced everyday that is not taken to municipal solid waste landfills. The disposal of waste is a major problem for farmers and other waste producers.
One way in which waste producers dispose of waste is to convert it into biogas. Currently, a 9:1 mix of water to manure is used in water based bioreactors requiring 14,400,000 gallons of water to convert 6,000 tons of manure into biogas. However, this process not only uses a tremendous amount of water, but also it does not decompose all of the manure or waste. Usually this residue called repeat is used as a soil amendment. These wet reactors produce thousands of gallons of water saturated with biogas, which then must be extracted from the water. This lengthy process usually takes about 21 days before any biogas can be recovered.